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News Article

U.S. Officials Condemn Video of Mutilated Soldiers

By Jim GaramoneAmerican Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, July 11, 2006  U.S. officials are condemning a terrorist video reported to show the mutilated corpses of American soldiers.

The terrorists say the video is of two American soldiers captured near Yusifiyah, Iraq, June 16 and killed sometime later. The soldiers were members of the 1st Battalion, 502nd Infantry Regiment, part of Multinational Division Baghdad.

"Multinational Division Baghdad condemns the release of the video in the strongest of terms," the command said in a news release. "It demonstrates the barbaric and brutal nature of the terrorists and their complete disregard for human life."

The video, uploaded on a terrorist Web site yesterday, shows the mutilated bodies of two men dressed in Army camouflage uniforms. The video shows the terrorists hoisting the severed head of one of the soldiers and makes the other soldier's identity clearly recognizable.

Officials called it ironic that the U.S. Congress and military are debating the nature of Geneva Accord protections as this grisly video is playing.

Terrorists know the value of videos like this, U.S. military officials in Baghdad said. They noted that snipers in Iraq often have videographers taping their murders and that people can buy DVDs of the murders in stores in Iraq and throughout the Middle East.

These videos are little more than "snuff films," officials said. The airing of the video on the Internet only reinforces coalition determination "to catch the perpetrators of this crime and bring them to justice," the release said.